Operating mechanism for car-couplings.



LINGS.

W. E. GOFPIN. OPERATING MEGHANISM POP. CAR COUP APPLICATION FILED APILB, 1910.

3. Il L. w M vos .m M J m d S 1. .1 D. Q au \\\\nr n .Q a. QL; L ,ro v ..1 Y 1.. d U ,L fb www@ y g 2 WL W. E. COPPIE. OPERATING EEHANISM FOR CAR GOUPLIHGS.

Eaeuised July' 15, 5.913.

Z SHEETS-SHEET 2.

...aLl-a anni.; w

` UNTE. sii-Aravis i WALTER n corrIN, or cLnvELANn, omc, assIGNon To THE NATIONAL MALLEABLE CASTINGS COMPANY, or CLEVELAND, omc, a CORPORATION or OHIO.'

OPERATING MncHAN'Isnr ron can-countries.

incassa.

, l e application med Api-n e, 1910. seriaino. ssaeoe.

To all whom t may concern.' j

Be it -kn'own that'l, WALTER E. Comit, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cleveland, Cuyahoga county, State of Ohio, have invented a new and use ul Imthey assume in making an emergency uncoupling, an uncoupling lever being also shown; Figs. 5 and 6 are detail. views of the clevis; Fig. 7 is a detail view of the preferred form of link; and Fig. 8 is a similarview of an ordinary form of link which may 'be substituted for the form shown in Fig. 7.

My invention has relation to operating mechanism for car-couplers, and more particularly to mechanism of the top-operating type memberof the coupling.

My invention provides a simple and ethcient link'v and clevis connection of such character hat in case of abrokenlinkfthe ,link-canb' lreplaced"lov any blacksmith.

It also provides a form of clevis which, in the normal' locking position thereof,

closes the opening in the top of the coupler' .head and prevents thel entrance of moisture,

dirt, etc.

My invention further-providesa link and clevisof this character which does not requireva vertical pull in. order to release the lock, and thus readily unlocks the coupler automatically in case of the breakage .of the coupler or its attachments.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 2 designates the coupler head having the pivoted knuckle 3. 4: designates the locking member for the knuckle which ma be of any well known or desired type, an which 1s mounted for Specication of Lettersaatent.

It is more particularly designed to im-,. prone-.the farm .of the and clevis' employed for lifting or releasing .the locking:

Fatented July i5, l.

vertical movement into and out of locking engagement with the tail 3 of the knuckle 3.

5 designates my improvl d clevis or upper link which is formed witi an eye-6 at its upper end, andl *which has at its middle portion the forwardly and rearwardly projecting. lips? and the lateral swells or. flanges 8. The lips 7 and the danges 8 .are so shaped that in the nomalposition of the clevis, as shown in Figs. -land 2, thleywill completely .cover thexholein the. top of the coupler, throughwhi'ch the clevis extends, and ,thus vexclude moisture, dirt, etc., which will interfere with the operation or' the vc'oupler., The lower portion of the clevis is bifurcated in the usual manner, and the arms 'of the bifurcated portion are 'extended in a rearward direction, so thatwhen connected to the link 9 in a suitable manner,

as by means of the, pin 'and Cotter 10, the

link will. be compelled to fall rearwardly under the rear portion 2 of the top' wall of the coupler immediately lbehind the hole therein. as-.shown in Fig. 2. 4This forms a very eflicient lock to the coupler lock,1pre

`venting the latter from jumping or creeping'to release ,the knuckle.

`The link 9fis preferahly'of ltheiorm shown `in detail inFig. 7. being-'what is known as a waist link. This link is provided with .a small eye 11 at its rlowerzen'd, which engages `the eye 12 on the locking member 4,

and is provided at its upper end with an elongated but relatively short slot 13. This link has certain advantages over the plain link, inasmuch as its shortenedupper slot 13 prevents the pin 10 froml sliding too far 4downwardly within the link, and: thus avoids 'the possibility'off the link being jammed between the pin of the clevis and the top wall 5 of the slot of'thoclevis. Such jamming' becomes an impossibility, in fact, with this form of link. The slot 13, although considerably shorter than the slot ot a plain link,

is elongated somewhat beyond la mere round hole, in. order that the advantage of the plain link may stillbe retained, namely, the advantage of a certain vertical flexibility in the connection between the linkand the clevis,'so that the latter may settle itselfdown into a normal position resting on the top hole of the coupler, ,while the pin 10 slides downwardly within the velongatedslot of the link and guides the latter rearwardly, y

as before described. If this hole in the upper portion oi' the link were not elongated,

,it is obvious that there would be but one correct length ot' link. which would permit the clevis to settle into ite normal position,`

the eye of the lock and 'the lock itself. just as the shortened upper slot 13 is of advantage in preventing the link from becoming jammed between the pin and the clevs. A plainlink, however, such as shown in Fig. e may be used. It might be desirable to use a plain link in case of breakage of the original link since a plain link can readily be furnished by any blacksmith.

When an upward pull is given to the clevis, the first elect is to raise the link into a. vertical position, as shown in Fig. 3, which permits it to clear the upper wall; 2 of the coupler head, and to passfupwardly through the top hole and thereby release thelock.' A further pull on the clevis raises the lock and operates'the coupler in theusual manner.

The clevis or upper link ie so arranged that it does not require a vertical pull in order to release the link from engagement with the Wall 2a. Thus, in Fig. 4,', in which I have shown the position of' the clevis where an emergency uncoupling is taking place,

such as would occur by means of the lever 14, if the attachment of the'couplcr were broken and the latterwere in danger Oibe ing pulled out of the car entirely. It will be noted that the rear lip 7 of the clevis ful crums on the top of the coupler head and thc clevis acts as a sort of prying lever, which lifts upwardly upon the link and raises the lock, This is a :feature of some importance, since il; insures the lock being automatically released in case of an einergency of this kind.

I claim:

l. In a ear coupler, a head having a. top hole, a vertically movable lock, a link pivotally connected to the leek and extendingr upH ivardly therefrom, another link having` a pin and slot connection with the first nained link, and extending upwardly through the hole in the head, and an enlargement of the last named link 'to close said hole, and adapted to act asa ulcruin to lift the first named link when the second named link is moved rearwardly. A

2. In a car coupler, a coupler head having a top hole, avertically movable lock, a link pivoted to the lock and free to tip reari wardly into locking engagement with the head, and a second dink having a pin and slot engagement with the first named link', and extending upvvardlifthrough said top hole, `said second link having a curved rear edge tofulcrum against thev rim ot' the hole, an intermediate enlargement on said'second link to close the hole, and adapted to fulu cruln on the top surface of the head in the rear of the hole lwhen said link is drawn rearwardly.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.4

'l WALTER EL CUFFIE,

i llitnesses:

Cnrs'xea K. Brooms, Hanni' E. GRn. 

